Sajid Hussain Turi, the federal minister for overseas Pakistanis and human resource development (OP & HRD), stated on Tuesday that the government is working to give overseas employment promoters (OEPs) a quota in order to increase the export of laborers, with a goal of one million exports of labourers this year.
While addressing the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Turi said he is tapping into new markets and has visited many countries including Romania, Portugal and Greece, who have shown an interest in importing manpower from Pakistan. “Malta, Poland, Hungary, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Tajikistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq have also shown an interest in importing Pakistani manpower and MoUs are being signed with many of them,” he said.
He emphasised that “OEPs should play a role in boosting the export of personnel and to support them in this respect, the government would be engaging OEPs in delegations so they may also explore new paths. Over 4700 OEPs are functioning in Pakistan, of which roughly 2200 are active.
New schools and industrial houses for Pakistanis living abroad will also be built, along with special courts that would handle their cases in 60 days. The federal minister added that in order to help OEPs, protector offices would also be created in Islamabad, Sukkur, Abbottabad, Bannu, and Gilgit Baltistan.
Turi also said that a new policy for Community Welfare Attaches (CWAs) is being developed to provide them with goals for community welfare and to address the concerns of Pakistanis living abroad. With Pakistan’s low level of foreign exchange reserves, increasing the export of personnel is the greatest approach to increase remittances and strengthen our forex reserves, according to ICCI President Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari.
Bakhtawari emphasised, “Around 65% of Pakistan’s population is quite young, and the government should equip this talent with the latest skills and training to improve their prospects.”